Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don't have a pet, please pass this to
those who do.

Over the weekend, the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa
Mulch from Target to use in their garden. The dogs loved the way it smelled and it was
advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog (Calypso) decided the mulc h smelled
good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was
typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom
woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk . Half way through the walk, she had a
seizure and died instantly.

Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the
company's website,

this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that "It is true that studies have shown
that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees
(depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it."

*Snopes site gives the
following information:http://www.snopes. com/critters/ crusader/ cocoamulch. asp *

Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other Garden
supply stores contains a lethal ingredient called 'Theobromine' . It is lethal to dogs
and cats. It smells li ke chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this
stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks.

Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs.
Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine
compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal
quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17
hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the
presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.



**PLEASE PASS THIS ON**